714 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. 



or six can play. Two sides are formed of equal iiiuubers, and two sets 

 of sticks are used. The players kneel behind the rock square. The 

 first player takes the sticks in one hand, rounded sides out (fig. 38), and 



slams them end first, on the rock. 



vOO OQq 



o 



a 



o 

 o 

 o 



o 



o 



o 

 o 



9. 



a 



% 



o 



c 



o 

 o 



o 



o 



.0 



o 



Oqq oOO 



0' 



From this is derived the name of the 

 game iSc-tich-ch, "Hit" or "bouuce- 

 ou-the-rock."^ 



The counts are as follows: 



3 round sides up =10 



3 flat sides up = 5 



2 rouud sides up and one fltit= 3 

 1 round side up and two flat = 2 



A throw of ten gives another 

 throw. Each side has two sticks 

 which are used to mark the count. 

 The two sides count from opposite 

 directions. 



Fig. 37. 



CIRCUIT FOR STAVE GAME. 



Navajo and Apa«^lie. 



Navajo. New Mexico. (Cat. No. 

 9557, U.S.N.M.) 

 Set of three sticks of root of cot- 

 ton wood, 8 inches in length, about 

 ]f in breadth and ^ in thickness, 

 one side flat and blackened; the other rounded and unpainted (fig. 39). 

 One stick tied near end to prevent splitting. They show marks of con- 

 tinued use. Collected by Mr. Edward Palmer. 



As observed by the writer at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 

 the Navajo play upon a circle of forty stones, throwing the staves ends 

 down upon a flat stone placed in the center. Each player has a splint 

 or twig to represent him upon the board, and these are all placed 

 together at one of tlie four oiaeuings in 

 the circle at the commencement of the 



game. 



The throws count as follows: 

 3 round sides up = 10 



3 flat =5 



2 rounds and one flat = 

 1 round and two flat = 



The following vocabulary of the game was 

 furnished me by the Navajo at Chicago: 



Game, set tiltli. 



Staves, set tilth. 



Circle of stones, sen asti. 



Stone in center, a cle sane. 



Dr. Washington Matthews'* describes 



Fig. 38. 



METHOD OF HOLDING STICKS BY WHITE 



MOUNTAIN APACHE. 



From a drawing by the late Capt. C. N. B. Mac- 



auley, United States Array. 



'Capt. John G. Bourke gave the Apache name of this game to the writer as 

 Tze-clns ov Zne-iilth, the two words, "stone" and "wood" referring to tlie central 

 stone an'' t^o staves. The circle of stones is called, he stated, Tze-nasti, "stone 

 circle." Mr. Edward Palmer sives the name of the game as Satill. 



-Navajo Legends, Boston, 1897, note 47, p. 219. 



